Price range: Expensive; most dinner entrees cluster at the $20 mark, with no entrees below $17; exclusive of alcohol, two diners will likely spend more than $50 on a meal; lunch dishes and appetizers at the spacious, comfortable bar offer affordable alternatives to a full dinner.

The stream of blue light that courses overhead at Z's Fusion feels like a bright, beckoning symbol of River City resilience, even in the midst of the worst recession in more than a half-century.

You feel energy and ambition flooding from every cove and cranny of Mehrzad Sharbaiani's newest project (he also founded Z's Oyster Bar and Steakhouse, which has two locations, one in Louisville and one in Indianapolis).

It's been reported that renovating the late, lamented Kunz's Fourth and Market Restaurant cost some $2 million — and from the elegant curve of the bar, the exquisitely integrated finishes of metal, granite and bamboo, as well as eye-catching glass accents fabricated locally at Glassworks, it appears Sharbaiani and company got what they paid for: a glittering showcase that somehow contrives to feel cozy rather than cavernous, despite having a seating capacity that approaches 400.

Chef Dallas McGarity's menu is as savvy as the design, a contemporary blend of European and Asian materials and flavors that isn't the least bit shy about global juxtapositions like truffle oil, sweet peas and sriracha sauce (in rock shrimp potstickers, lunch, $5.95; dinner, $7.95) or transforming a traditional Sicilian dish like pasta alla Norma into a Sichuan hybrid by adding seaweed and chili flakes to the eggplant mix ($9.95/$16.95).

Even a Southern lunch standard like pulled pork gets fused — with miso, an airy sweet potato puree, a splash of ginger sauce shot through with bits of green onion and a mango vinaigrette ($8.95).

McGarity (formerly of Volare and the Wildwood Country Club) and his kitchen colleagues walk this culinary high wire with deft confidence, and on a couple of recent visits, servers were well versed in and enthusiastic about explaining the nuances of each dish — the smoky interplay of garlic and bacon in a BLT sushi roll that tasted divine, though its enormous girth rendered it nearly impossible to eat ($5.95), or the faint, exotic tang of katsuobushi butter (which counts dried, fermented, smoked tuna as an ingredient) that lurks in the background of a pasta dish of ginger lime beef ($11.95/$17.95).

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The pastas don't taste as good as they look on paper — or taste as good as they sound in the mouths of the servers. Rather, their flavors seem mute and dull — but fortunately, mute, dull flavors are rare exceptions at Z's Fusion.

A spicy tuna roll special ($7.95) with a well of sriracha sauce at its center had all the heat and panko-crumb crunch that could be packed into a single, tight cylinder.

A roll stuffed with avocado and shrimp ceviche (which recently won top honors from judges at Sushi in the City 2009) was brightened with cilantro and finished with blue corn tortilla crumbs.

A Chinese tea egg — a hard-boiled egg simmered in tea to develop a finely marbled finish and a subtle tannic flavor — was served with perfectly poached asparagus spears ($8.95) and salads based on roasted beets (with sweet, crunchy pecans and a dressing of wasabi, garlic and honey, $6.25/$7.95), and Asian pears poached to a deep golden color and served with creamy goat cheese and baby greens ($8.95) looked like the model for a Cezanne still life.

Indeed, every plate that comes from the kitchen looks spectacular: a plump duck breast perched atop corn and bacon risotto ($19.95), and falling tenderly to the knife. A lofty tandoori-spiced swordfish steak perfectly trimmed, judiciously glazed with a white, creamy, cucumber tzatziki sauce, and bedded down with rich, light polenta and a purée of white beans ($18.95).

And an enormous fillet of opah was the crowning glory at our table — lightly flavored with a Chinese five-spice mix, as luscious and creamy as fish can be, and perfectly paired with crisp wilted greens, crimson cherry tomatoes and a dollop of peanut vinaigrette ($21.95).

From the 10-page wine list, our server zeroed in on Oregon pinot noirs as the vinous accompaniment to our various dishes — and a bottle of Kings Ridge 2006 ($38) worked like a charm.

So did the desserts by pastry chef Amber Diamond, who works at Z's Oyster Bar and Steakhouse. A dark chocolate beet cake ($6.95) with strawberry compote was stellar (though we were puzzled by a "popcorn dust" garnish that looked more like "bits" than dust).

We had no such questions about a cardamom-port zabaglione, a heavenly custard in a martini glass bedecked with star fruit and big, juice-spurting blackberries ($6.95).